Magnetically guiding system and magnetically guiding method

Abstract

A magnetically guiding system includes: a capsule medical device that has a magnet provided therein; an information acquiring unit that acquires physical information about magnetic guiding of the capsule medical device; a magnetic field generating unit that generates a magnetic field for magnetically guiding the capsule medical device; and a control unit that sets a magnetic field condition based on the physical information acquired by the information acquiring unit and controls the magnetic field generating unit to generate a magnetic field corresponding to the magnetic field condition.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A magnetically guiding method comprising:
 acquiring physical information about magnetic guiding of a capsule medical device that includes a magnet; 
 setting a magnetic field condition for a magnetic field to be applied to the capsule medical device based on the acquired physical information; and 
 applying the magnetic field corresponding to the set magnetic field condition to the capsule medical device inside a test subject so as to magnetically guide the capsule medical device, wherein 
 the acquiring of the physical information includes capturing, by the capsule medical device, an image including a mark drawn on a bottom of a container into which a liquid and the capsule medical device are introduced, and calculating the physical information based on a captured state of the mark in the image. 
 
     
     
       2. The magnetically guiding method according to  claim 1 , wherein the setting of the magnetic field condition includes determining whether the acquired physical information is within a predetermined range. 
     
     
       3. The magnetically guiding method according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 receiving a signal that is stored beforehand in the capsule medical device and contains the physical information from the capsule medical device, 
 wherein the acquiring of the physical information includes extracting the physical information from the signal received from the capsule medical device. 
 
     
     
       4. The magnetically guiding method according to  claim 1 , wherein the acquiring of the physical information includes calculating magnetic moment of the magnet provided inside the capsule medical device. 
     
     
       5. A magnetically guiding method comprising:
 acquiring physical information about magnetic guiding of a capsule medical device that includes a magnet; 
 setting a magnetic field condition for a magnetic field to be applied to the capsule medical device based on the acquired physical information; and 
 applying the magnetic field corresponding to the set magnetic field condition to the capsule medical device inside a test subject so as to magnetically guide the capsule medical device, wherein 
 the acquiring of the physical information includes capturing an image by the capsule medical device in a liquid in a container, determining timing when the capsule medical device starts floating up or sinking down in the liquid, based on the captured image, detecting a magnetic gradient of the magnetic field, at the timing, applied to the capsule medical device introduced into the liquid in the container, and calculating the physical information based on the detected magnetic gradient of the magnetic field.